


The Captain

by chiarascura



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 02:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6265831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiarascura/pseuds/chiarascura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lady Josephine Montilyet's brother's gambling at the notorious gaming hell The Siren's Call threatens her whole family's future. She seeks out Lady Isabela Aquillo, the beautiful widow with the golden tongue, who may have connections that can help.</p><p>Lady Isabela Aquillo leads a double life as The Captain, the mysterious kingpin who runs Val Royeaux from the shadows. When Lady Josephine begs her to help with her family's problem, she is torn between her double life and the kind woman in front of her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tofsla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tofsla/gifts).



“Lady Josephine Montilyet,” the Qunari butler announced and opened the door to the parlor.  
  
Josephine entered to find Lady Isabela Aquillo sprawled elegantly across the chaise. Josephine curtsied and seated herself across from the woman at her gesture. She felt a tinge of annoyance at the woman’s refusal to stand for her entrance after making Josephine wait in the morning room, but brushed it off, knowing it wasn’t a slight. The deep red of her gown set off the undertones of her dark skin making her practically glow in the dim room, and the low-cut bodice drew Josephine’s attention to the her full figure.  
  
“Lady Josephine, what a pleasure. I certainly did not expect you to call today.” Lady Isabela’s eyes glinted in the low light and it sent a chill down Josephine’s spine.  
  
She folded her hands in her lap and glanced around the room. Dark red velvet covered the walls and the heavy curtains that blocked out most of the late morning sunlight. The furniture was dark and laquered, and the entire room looked like a sensual den of sin. Exactly what Lady Isabela was known for.  
  
The allure was too great, and Josephine shivered at the sense of forbidden desire that the room emitted. The scent of incense filled her nose and she had known Isabela for long enough to realize this was just the part she played, hiding the kind and empathetic woman underneath the veneer of seduction and carelessness.  
  
“I wanted to welcome you back to Val Royeaux. I understand you’ve been in the countryside for some weeks?”  
  
Lady Isabela smiled, and the room seemed to rise a few degrees in temperature. “Why, thank you. What a pleasant return to the city, if I am blessed with your company.”  
  
Josephine smiled at the compliment. “I trust you had a safe journey? The weather has been atrocious as of late.”  
  
Lady Isabela nodded and glanced away for a moment. “It was indeed very promising. I trust things here were the same as always. A little bird told me Lady Petrice threw a _stimulating_ ball last week.”  
  
Josephine covered a giggle with her hand. “Yes, you have the right of it.”  
  
Years ago, one of Josephine’s first social outings had been a party at Lady Petrice’s home, and a more uncomfortable, unpleasant night she could not have imagined.  
  
The only saving grace of the night was the newly widowed Lady Isabela Aquillo, who drew the attention away from Josephine by calling it to herself. When Josephine finally escaped the greedy eyes of the ton, Lady Isabela was there with a kind word and a smile.  
  
She couldn’t have been more than a couple of years older than Josephine herself, but somehow she seemed more worldly, more adult, having married and lost her husband within just two years. Her quick wit and intolerance for fools endeared her to Josephine immediately, and Josephine wanted nothing than to spend the rest of the night beside her, gossiping about the preening obsequious nobles surrounding them.  
  
Since then, they chatted amiably in public when they attended the same functions, and occasionally paid calls to each other. Rarely enough that this visit was an anomaly, and Isabela seemed to know straightaway something was wrong.  
  
“Lady Josephine, tell me why you are _really_ here.”  
  
Josephine swallowed her nervous energy down and tried to radiate calmness and serenity. “I recently had a conversation with Mr. Tethras of the Merchant’s Guild, and he said you may be able to help me with a… delicate situation.” Josephine shifted in her seat and kept her eyes on a distant point across the room. She did not know if she could look at Lady Isabela while she confessed her family’s issues. “My brother, Laurien, is… in a spot of trouble. He has overextended himself with regards to his pocket money and seems to have found himself in a difficult situation.” Josephine wrung her hands together and tried to think of the right words.  
  
Lady Isabela stood from her lounge and swept across the room. She stopped at a well stocked bar and uncapped a crystal decanter, filling two glasses with brandy. She brought one over to Josephine, who gripped it tightly to mask her trembling fingers. Lady Isabela seated herself on the other end of the couch, now only about a foot away from Josephine. “Go on,” she said gently.  
  
Josephine took a sip from the glass and promptly choked. She coughed for a moment before she could take a deep breath, and she knew her face was flushed. How embarrassing. “I… I don’t know how to say this. Laurien has gambled away everything at the gambling hell, the Siren’s Call. You may know that our father passed away last year and our fortune has dwindled away since then, as it is a common point of gossip lately.” Her cheeks burned with the admission. “Mr. Tethras said you have connections that may help my brother get himself out of this mess, and I do not know who else to turn to.”  
  
Josephine gulped the rest of the drink down and winced against its burn down her throat. Her face was aflame, and she clasped her shaking hands together around the glass in her lap.  
  
Lady Isabela did not respond for a long moment, and Josephine finally turned to look at her. She was unreadable; her eyes dull and the corners of her mouth tipped downward, and it was an expression Josephine had never seen on her. At balls and dinners, she always had a smirk or a smile, full of brash charm and vivacity. This dispassionate look was unsettling.  
  
“I know that Grand Duke Gaspard is now a widower and may be looking for a bride. I believe he may be my only choice for saving my brother and giving my sister the dowry she needs for a good match, but…” Josephine trailed off and looked back into her drink. Everyone knew of Gaspard’s proclivities: young women and pretty men, elven servants or prostitutes, inflicting pain and humiliation on powerless people who couldn’t fight back. Josephine did not enjoy the idea of marrying the brutal, brusque man, but she saw no other choice. He was the only one with the money and the power to protect her brother, and if she had to ally herself to the man to save her family, she would.  
  
“I was hoping that, since you… have connections at the Siren’s Call, you may be able to help me. I would like to meet The Captain.” Josephine looked into Isabela’s eyes and felt a thrill as surprise registered on the woman’s face.  
  
The Captain was a legendary figure in society: running an empire of gentlemen’s clubs and gambling hells across the city, and the jewel in his crown was the Siren’s Call. No one met with The Captain, only his lieutenants, of which Mr. Tethras was one. The mystery made his clubs the most popular in the city, and Laurien was one of the poor souls who hadn’t figured out that the house always wins.  
  
Lady Isabela raised one dark eyebrow and studied Josephine’s face. “You want to meet The Captain? What makes you think I know where to find him?”  
  
Josephine twisted the glass in her hands. “Mr. Tethras said you… have a way with words.” Josephine blushed again, cursing herself. Lady Isabela had a way with words, indeed. She was known for having seduced some of the most high ranking powerful men around, and destroyed ones who deserved it. Some of the older society matrons looked down their noses at her, but Josephine admired the woman: she knew what she wanted, she took it, and she lived the life she wanted.  
  
Lady Isabela sipped from her glass before settling it on the coffee table. “My dear Lady Josephine,” she purred, and Josephine felt heat rush through her. “I am known for being a… conduit for the Captain, but he does not take lightly to women selling themselves to protect foolish men.”  
  
“It seems I have few other choices. I need to make sure my sister can debut next year, and that she may make a good match. She may not have a dowry for much longer. Laurien is driving us to ruin, and I don’t know what else to do besides speak to the Captain or to marry Gaspard.” Josephine felt tears rise in her eyes, and she turned away from Lady Isabela to blink them back. This was humiliating enough already, and she did not need to show more weakness.  
  
Lady Isabela’s hand came to rest on her own, warm and firm. “Let’s say I could talk to the Captain for you. What would you want to say? To forgive your brother’s debts? To ban him from the club? You know he would find somewhere else to throw away his money. What then?”  
  
A sob erupted from Josephine’s throat, and one hand came up to her mouth to cover it. That was the question, wasn’t it? Josephine didn’t know what to do. Her father had been such a stalwart presence, leading the family and keeping them together. Now that she was the head of their house, they were adrift. Josephine didn’t know where to go from here, how to keep them safe and sheltered.  
  
Lady Isabela scooted closer on the couch and put her arm around Josephine’s shoulders. She took the glass from Josephine’s hand and placed it on the table beside her own, before shifting closer. Josephine bowed her head and gritted her teeth against the tears. Lady Isabela petted her hair, soothing her with quiet murmurs. When Josephine felt like herself again, she sat up and cleared her throat.  
  
“I am so sorry, Lady Isabela. It was never my intention—“  
  
“Don’t worry about it, sweet thing. I understand what it’s like to be responsible for other peoples’ mistakes, to be stuck between a rock and a hard place and have no one to turn to.”  
  
Josephine shifted on the couch to face Isabela and she swallowed hard at the expression on her face. Isabela’s eyes were direct but not stern, soft but not pitying. Her hand still brushed over Josephine’s tight bun, occasionally caressing Josephine’s neck where it wasn’t covered by her high collar. Josephine shivered at each pass, where Isabela’s fingers trailed across her skin, sending shockwaves through her.  
  
Isabela scooted closer. “Lady Josephine,” she whispered, and Josephine’s eyes fell to Isabela’s lips. “I will help you, but only if you do not sell yourself to Gaspard. I’ll talk to the Captain, see what can be done.”  
  
Relief like a tidal wave rushed through Josephine, and she closed her eyes with how powerful the feeling was. “Oh, Lady Isabela, _thank you_.” Her head fell forward and she bit her lips to keep from crying out in happiness. She knew it wasn’t going to be solved that easily, but things would work out eventually.  
  
When she opened her eyes again, Isabela seemed even closer, only a breath away. “Lady Josephine, you are far too good of a woman to throw yourself away on a man who doesn’t deserve you. You need someone who will take care of you, who will love you properly and well, someone who knows how to treat a real lady.”  
  
 The scent of her rose in Josephine’s awareness: salt and spice and something deeper, something complex and dark that drew Josephine like waves to the shore, inexorable and necessary. Isabela’s hand slid down to her neck, fingertips like fire on her skin, and her proximity was intoxicating.  
  
Her eyes darted down to Isabela’s lips, and an errant thought about how they would feel underneath her own crossed her mind. She swallowed and her own lips parted. Josephine found herself leaning forward, tilting her head just slightly, and her eyes falling half-shut.  
  
The air crackled around them. Josephine could feel Isabela’s breath on her mouth, could almost taste her, wanted to pull her close and…  
  
Three sharp raps on the door startled Josephine out of her daze and she startled back on the couch. Isabela turned to glare at the door and sat back with a huff. “Come,” she snapped as she swept across the room to refill her glass.  
  
“Your Ladyship,” the butler intoned after opening the door. “You have another visitor.”  
  
Lady Isabela made eye contact with the butler, something passing between them, before giving him a sharp nod of dismissal. “Thank you, Ashaad.”  
  
Josephine straightened her skirts and stood, feeling her face burn with embarrassment once again. “Thank you, Lady Isabela, for intervening for me. Should I return to discuss the arrangement with you?”  
  
Lady Isabela looked at her, her face once again unreadable. Josephine felt uncomfortable after sharing such an intimate moment with the woman, now that both women returned to hiding behind their masks. She fidgeted with her reticule for a second, and Lady Isabela took pity on her. “I will call upon you later this week.”  
  
Josephine nodded, still unable to meet her eyes and crossed the room to where the butler held the door open. “Thank you, Lady Isabela, for all your help.” She glanced up for only a second into Isabela’s hazel eyes before leaving.  
  
As she walked down the front steps and got into her carriage, she pressed her hands against her cheeks, willing them to cool down. No woman, or man, had ever affected Josephine quite like that, and she scolded herself for being carried away so easily.


	2. Chapter 2

“You told her _I_ could help her? What the hell, Varric!” Isabela held a candlestick in her head, brandishing it like a weapon, and watching Varric cower in fear with his hands above his head gave her a vicious thrill.   
  
“She seemed freaked out! She needs help! You like her! I don’t—“   
  
Isabela threw the candlestick at the far wall and Varric flinched. It left a dent in the gold wallpaper and fell to the black carpet with a soft thud. She knew it may be expensive to fix the damage, but the Siren’s Call was nothing if not rich enough to fix a little hole in the wall.   
  
“That doesn’t mean you just go around telling people I know the Captain!” Isabela had worked too damn hard for too damn long to be brought down by some pretty, sweet-smelling noblewoman whose family has more money than brains. This whole operation relied on Isabela’s ability to keep secrets and if she couldn’t even trust her associates, everything she’d worked for would crumble.   
  
Varric scurried away from Isabela’s massive desk, knees crouched and ready to flee. “Look, Rivaini, you know I have a soft heart for women in trouble. I can’t say no.”  
  
Isabela crossed her arms and glared at Varric. She did know this, she had known for a long time, even before they started the Siren’s Call together. She was still going to hold it against him. If Josephine started looking too closely at the Captain and the Siren’s Call, this could only end in disaster.  
  
Her office door swung open to reveal Zevran in the doorway, looking slightly startled by Isabela’s rage and Varric’s fear. Her bodyguard Ashaad stood behind him, waiting for a threat.   
  
“What did I miss?” Isabela could see right through his innocence, and knew immediately he had something to do with Lady Josephine’s plea.  
  
Isabela shouted in rage and threw a paperweight at him. He dodged, the sneaky bastard, and tutted at her.  
  
“Now, now, mi amor, calm yourself. What has thrown you into this fit?”  
  
Isabela pointed accusingly at Varric. “ _He_ is sending helpless women to me to intercede for the Captain! He’s going to get us all killed!”  
  
“She’s not helpless, and I’m not going to get us killed, Rivani, thats taking it a little too far.”  
  
Isabela glared at him.   
  
“Look,” he appealed to Zevran, “the lovely Lady Josephine Montilyet came to me, begging for her brother’s life, which he gambled away here. I told her I couldn’t help, but Isabela could. I didn’t say anything about the Captain.” He glanced at Isabela. “Not specifically, anyway.”  
  
“And somehow she knew to come to me?” Isabela snorted. She fell into the armchair behind her desk and covered her face with her hands.   
  
“Why are you so upset?” Zevran asked. “Why can’t you just tell her the Captain will do what he likes, and send her on her way?”   
  
Isabela hesitated. Why didn’t she do just that? Josephine would never know the difference.  
  
Yet… something in the woman’s expression. The way she stood up for herself against gossiping harpies or protected young women who didn’t know any better or was willing to sell herself into a life of unhappiness and abuse for the sake of her good-for-nothing brother… Isabela saw something in her that she wanted to help.   
  
“Ah yes,” Zevran interrupted her thoughts with a knowing smirk. “I recognize that face. You want to bed her.”  
  
“No I don’t,” Isabela snapped automatically. Lady Josephine’s luscious curves and the way she leaned into Isabela earlier that day on the couch came to her mind. “Well, yes, alright. Not enough to actually do it and deal with the complications.”  
  
Zevran laughed in that annoying know-it-all way. “Now I see the problem. You truly _like_ her. Anyone else, you would have them wrapped around your finger already with the hint of a promise and no more. You don’t want to say no to this girl, so you fight with Varric.”   
  
Isabela pouted and crossed her arms. “You know I don’t have feelings. Get out of my office.”   
  
“Aye-aye, Captain,” Varric said as he scuttled out.   
  
Zevran watched her for another moment. “Isabela, consider this: eventually, you’ll have to trust someone with your secrets. Josephine is known for her integrity and faithfulness. The Siren’s Call won’t last forever, and you can’t lead a double-life into your old age. Might as well have someone to share it with.”   
  
Isabela scoffed. “Like you?”  
  
Zevran’s eyes unfocused and Isabela regretted her words. She knew Zevran loved someone once, someone who wasn’t in his life now. “Yes. Like me. Letting yourself be vulnerable to someone you care about is a powerful feeling. Try it for once in your life.” He shut the door behind himself, and it echoed in the sudden stillness.  
  
Isabela grumbled for a few more minutes in her blessedly empty office. She turned a letter-opener over in her hands, fidgeting as she weighed the risks.  
  
She had been the Captain for coming on fifteen years now. Running the Siren’s Call had been her escape from her disastrous marriage, her refuge from the abuse and the terror. When Luis died, she invested the rest of her money with Varric and Zevran into the club, and created the Captain as the mysterious owner to deal with hotheaded pricks who wouldn’t speak with a capable woman. By playing the empty-headed intermediary, she managed to collect money, secrets, and debts like it rained from the sky.   
  
Varric and Zevran, her infuriating co-owners, were the only ones who knew about her alter ego. Now that the widow Lady Isabela Aquillo was a well-known figure in society, exposure was a higher risk. Still, she couldn’t imagine revealing herself to Josephine of all people.  
  
Zevran was right, damn him. She couldn’t run the Siren’s Call forever, she couldn’t play the prostitute and the pimp at the same time. She needed a rest.   
  
A sharp rap on the door broke her from her reverie. She sighed and sat up from where she slumped in the chair. “Enter,” she called out.  
  
Ashaad opened the door with a nod, and Isabela returned it. “Yes, who is it?”   
  
He stood aside to let in Josephine Montilyet. Isabela jumped to her feet. “What are you doing here?”  
  
Josephine looked like a vision sent from the Maker. Her pristine white day gown set her apart from the dark furniture and fabrics covering the office, an innocent dove in a dark cave of vice. Isabela’s mouth went dry as her eye traveled from the high collar of Josephine’s dress to the strip of brown skin peeking out from beneath her gloved hands to the hem of her skirt brushing against the plush carpet.   
  
“Lady Isabela?” Josephine’s brow furrowed and her voice filled with confusion.   
  
“Lady Josephine, I didn’t expect to see you…” Isabela realized that the noblewoman had come to a notorious gambling hell looking like the most tempting angel, and being seen here could ruin her. “What are you doing here?”   
  
Josephine glanced around the office again before her eyes swept down Isabela’s body. Shit.  
  
Since Isabela was at the club, she only wore a loose grey blouse, soft black trousers and high boots. Corsets and dresses could be gorgeous and fun to strip out of, but when she was working she preferred comfort to style. No one saw her at the club when she was doing paperwork as the Captain, so it didn’t much matter if she was prepared for guests. Naturally, this would be the time Josephine came to the club unannounced.  
  
“I’m looking for the Captain,” Josephine said. She perched gingerly on the edge of a settee.   
  
Isabela closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to rein in her temper. Of bloody course she would. Damned noblewoman, thinking she could come here and threaten or beg or cry and get her way. “He’s… indisposed. Didn’t I tell you I’d call on you later this week?”  
  
“Yes, well, I was concerned.” She looked into the low-burning hearth, eyes suddenly glittering and watery. “Laurien did not come home last night, and this afternoon…” Josephine’s face crumpled. “He looked _terrible_. He had a black eye and he was covered in blood. I’m just so afraid for him.” The woman looked on the edge of tears.  
  
Isabela felt her belly swoop. She had the power to fix this, to absolve Josephine of Laurien’s debts, to keep him out of the Siren’s Call for good, to prevent Josephine from marrying that scum Gaspard. However, no one from the SIren’s Call would have beat Laurien like that without Isabela’s express consent. He must be in debt to others, which would be more difficult, but not impossible, for her to fix.   
  
She tread from behind her desk over to where Josephine sat daintily pressing a handkerchief at her eyes. Isabela lowered herself to sit beside her, and took one of Josephine’s warm hands between her own. Alarm bells rang in her head, but she couldn’t stop herself.  
  
“Josephine, I can help you.”  
  
The hope in Josephine’s eyes sent another wave of heat through Isabela. “You can? Oh, bless you!” She leaned in with a grateful smile, and Isabela could smell her perfume. Light and delicate, like the first breath of fresh air in spring. “I knew you could.”  
  
The corner of Isabela’s mouth twitched up and her eyes focused on their linked hands. “Josephine, I—“  
  
“No, please.” Josephine squeezed her hand. “Let me say this: I have admired you for so long. You have saved me more than once in public, and I cannot thank you enough for intervening here. I just…” Josephine lowered her lashes, and Isabela swallowed hard against her desire at the downturned expression.  
  
“Josephine,” Isabela murmured, and her hand rose to cup Josephine’s cheek. Her lashes fluttered and her dark eyes focused on Isabela’s, and Isabela felt lost at sea.   
  
She leaned in to press their mouths together, just a chaste graze of skin on skin, until Josephine shifted and Isabela inhaled against Josephine’s abrupt moan. She tasted like vanilla and marzipan, sweet and precious, and Isabela wrapped one arm around her waist to pull her closer. Josephine’s lips were soft and dry against her own, opening at the smallest pressure from Isabela’s tongue. Isabela drew Josephine’s lower lip into her mouth, sucking and tugging gently then soothing with her tongue.   
  
Her hand slid along Josephine’s scalp, the soft curly hair coming out of its neat updo in loose spirals, and Isabela felt a savage thrill at the image of Josephine leaving with hair mussed and clothing askew later. Josephine’s small hands rose to clutch Isabela’s back, smoothing over the loose blouse before digging her fingers in to press their bodies closer.  
  
Isabela slid to the side, drawing a trail of kisses across her cheek and down her neck, tonguing beneath the high collar of Josephine’s dress. She could hear Josephine drawing ragged breaths and her hands tightened.   
  
Isabela whispered into Josephine’s skin, “Josie,” and heard in reply, “Yes, Bela, yes, Maker.” Isabela felt herself grow slick and hot, and she had to pull away to keep herself from biting and damaging the perfectly smooth skin.   
  
Laughter from the gambling floor downstairs broke through Isabela’s haze of desire, and she backed away quickly. She could not ruin the head of Montilyet here on a couch in her office. Josephine jolted forward at the loss of Isabela’s weight and her eyes fluttered madly.   
  
Isabela stood and began pacing across the room as Josephine righted herself, smoothing out her skirts and fixing her collar. “Josephine, I… have to tell you something.”  
  
Josephine blinked several times in a row with unfocused eyes, and Isabela smirked at the prolonged effect she seemed to have on the prim and proper woman. Wait til Isabela could get her in a proper bed, skirts hiked up around her waist, legs spread…  
  
“No, I must say something first.” Josephine frowned. “I… may have feelings for you.”  
  
Isabela stopped in her tracks. “What now?”  
  
Josephine twisted her hands in her lap. “You’ve been perfectly wonderful to me every time I see you, and now you’re helping me when really you could do much worse and make much more money. You stand up for women and I admire you so.” She swallowed and soldiered on. “I have feelings for you, and I cannot deny them any longer. I have to tell you. But I cannot do anything until this business is cleared up with Laurien.”  
  
Isabela licked her lips and opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. “You. Oh.”  
  
Josephine looked away, and her legs shifted underneath her. “If I can get Laurien on the right path, and get out from under our enormous debt, and I can avoid Gaspard, I had hoped…” She looked up at Isabela and her direct gaze sent a bolt into Isabela’s heart. “I had hoped to speak with you further. About… this. If we could have something between us.”   
  
Isabela nodded. “I need to tell you something.”  
  
Josephine bit her lower lip, and Isabela recalled the feeling of that lip between her teeth, her tongue tracing the plump line of it.   
  
“I am the Captain,” she blurted out. _Damn_ , that’s not what she wanted to say. Exactly.  
  
“You… what?” Josephine’s brows came together and her mouth pouted in the sweetest little confused expression.   
  
“I’ve been the Captain for years. I run the Siren’s Call. Your brother is in debt to me.” That was even worse. What the bloody hell, Isabela?  
  
Josephine was quiet for a moment. “You… you’re the Captain. The mysterious owner of the worst gambling hell in the city, running society from the shadows. That’s… you.” Josephine’s face dropped into a blank mask.  
  
Isabela nodded. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but. You need to know, if we’re going to have something between us.”  
  
Josephine stilled completely on the couch. “Something between us,” she repeated, and the crinkles around her eyes deepened.   
  
Isabela fell to her knees on the carpet before Josephie and took the woman’s hands between her own. “I want to help you. I want you to help me, because things here may be changing more quickly than I thought. I admire you, too, and I haven’t felt this affection for anyone before. Not my husband, not my lovers, not anyone. I love you, Josephine Montilyet.”  
  
The blank expression on Josephine’s face made Isabela’s hands tremble in fear and anticipation. What if she turned her down? Even if she liked Isabela, that didn’t mean she was ready to deal with the Captain and all it entailed. What if—  
  
“I think we need each other, Captain.” Josephine’s smile was like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, warmth and happiness finally returning. Isabela couldn’t help smiling back, and they leaned in together for another warm kiss.


End file.
